June 20th, 2024
62,265 people evacuated from danger to date
153 people evacuated from danger this week
41 trips into the deoccupied and frontline territories this week
Those of you who’ve been following our newsletters for a while may remember that we have restored more than 300 homes in the village of Slatyne, north of Kharkiv, since it was liberated in the fall of 2022. Unfortunately, on Tuesday morning we learned that, for the first time in almost two years, Russia hit Slatyne again, possibly because of the intensifying battles near Vovchans’k. The strike wounded a 51-year-old woman working in her garden. She remains in critical condition.
The explosion left behind a 30-foot crater and damaged a local administrative building. It’s painful to see this destruction in a place where our volunteers know every street, and which they have worked tirelessly to bring back life, one home at a time. We comfort ourselves with the thought that it’s still been worth it, that whatever the future holds, these families at least got to spend two winters under a solid roof. We hope that Slatyne will not see a repeat of the destruction it suffered in 2022, but we also know that we can do little to prevent it.
Dobra Sprava Targeted by Russian Trolls
Last week the Dobra Sprava team suffered a misinformation attack by Russian authorities, which try to polarize Ukrainian society and discourage people from evacuating from frontline areas. Russian troll farms started rumors online that those who turn to Dobra Sprava for evacuation will be conscripted and handed over to the Ukrainian army. Dozens of comments from fake accounts poured in, blaming the war on Ukrainian Nazis, Jews, and Western influences, and warning people not to evacuate, but to join the Russian “liberators” instead.
Dobra Sprava is no stranger to encounters with Russian authorities. When the team was conducting evacuations from the occupied territories in early 2022, one of the team’s drivers, Serhiy, was captured and held for five days, but managed to escape. Other team members suffered beatings and harassment at checkpoints. Last week’s attack was another attempt to disrupt Dobra Sprava’s work.
A Ukrainian fact-checking publication released a story disputing these lies. For their part, the Dobra Sprava team says that, despite the complications the Russian propaganda creates, the team will continue their mission, knowing that if they are attracting the attention of the enemy, they must be doing something right.
Aid in the Occupied Territories
250 families received aid in 4 occupied cities of Ukraine, and 2 people were evacuated from the Russian-occupied left bank.
Delivering Aid to Tomaryne near Beryslav
A report from Inna gave us some context on the routine dangers of volunteer work in the Kherson Region (language altered slightly for readability):
“The head of the Beryslav Municipal Administration asked us to deliver aid to a village that nobody wants to visit. We agreed that the local alderman would meet our volunteer halfway and bring him in through the fields, because the main roads are too dangerous. Our volunteer Yuriy arrived at the meeting place, but there was no cell reception and the alderman was nowhere in sight.
“Standing in one place is extremely dangerous, so Yuriy drove to the village using his map. The further he drove, the more he understood how close he was to the frontline. There were more and more burnt out cars and trucks with deformed cargo beds on the side of the road. All of it suggested the work of drones. When Yuriy got to the village, the alderman and the villagers were shocked that he had made it, as they’ve given up on using that road a while ago.”
Team Summaries
Alina’s Team – Dobra Sprava
Evacuated 151 people from conflict zones, making 16 trips. As before, the evacuations are primarily from the Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad, Lyman, Kostyantynivka, Selydove, Mykolaiv, Kurakhove, Novohrodivka, Druzhkivka, Sviatohirs’k, and Kherson communities.
Inna’s Team – Krok z Nadiyeyu
22.65 tons of aid transported.
8,300 people received food packages.
9,500 people received bread.
Kherson efforts:
Performed exterminations in 20 buildings.
Disinfection performed in 6 large buildings.
Performed 14 equipment maintenance tasks.
Aid delivered to Tomaryne (Beryslav district), Druzhkivka, Kostyantynivka, Kramatorsk, and Nikopol — all high risk areas.
Oleksandr D’s Volunteer Networks
Oleksandr S (Boyarka): delivered 2,200 kg of clothing, grocery sets and mouse poison to the Sumy Region villages of Riasne and Hrabovske. Also distributed spiritual literature.
Vladyslav K (Mykolaiv): delivered 35 tons of drinking water to Mykolaiv and 14 tons of water, plus 2 tons of clothes and shoes to Kherson.
Sandra S (Odesa): kitchen fed more than 1,200 people.
Yuri S (Vinnytsia): delivered 8 food packages to single mothers in a shelter in Tsvizhyn (Vinnytsia Region).
Vitaliy Z (Kharkiv): Vitaliy made 3 trips:
Delivered 2.5 tons of aid packages, clothing, medicines, and animal feed to 2 of the most remote locations in Chasiv Yar. Suggested evacuation as the situation in the town is now so dangerous that the local administration can’t deliver bread or water to the residents.
Brought 3 tons of clothing, medicine, food, animal feed, blankets and pillows to the Kharkiv Region villages of Kolesnykivka and Hlushkivka. Evacuation was also suggested there as the villages are now mostly unreachable by administrative or humanitarian aid.
Delivered 2 tons of aid to Borova (Kharkiv Region).
Vilis N (Chernivtsi): delivered 300 kg of sports suits and equipment, fruits, candy and clay for painting to 178 children at 2 orphanages.
Artiom S (Hostomel): delivered 1.3 tons of food and hygiene products to a Kharkiv center which prepares food for children of fallen soldiers. Delivered 600 kg of food aid to Druzhkivka, as well as food and wet wipes to doctors in Lyman.
Oleksandr D (Lutsk): sent 6 walkers and 4 wheelchairs to Chernivtsi for internally displaced (IDPs) and people with disabilities. Oksana K also contributed grains and other aid to the shipment.
Oleksandr Z (Lutsk): provided therapeutic interventions for children and families:
Offered art therapy to 12 children from military families and 22 hospitalized soldiers.
Organized an art therapy camp for a further 80 children from large families.
Conducted learning activities for 56 children of IDPs.
Took 62 children to the theater.
Distributed bread and other food to 196 IDPs at the shelter, including children under 12.
Kseniia’s Team - NGO Livyj Bereh
Svitlana’s Kherson-based group delivered 200 packages to Pryozerne and Fedorivka.
Karina’s Team - We Save Dnipro
27 people in the shelter.
Delivered 100 packages of food, 65 packages of hygiene, and other humanitarian aid to Nikopol.
Tetiana’s Team - Dopomoha Poruch
Distributed 220 packages with food, and 150 packages with hygiene products in the village of Shevchenkove, near Kup’yans’k, Kharkiv Region.
Timur’s Team – Timur and Team
Distributed aid packages to 400 people in Saltivka, Kharkiv.
Made special deliveries to 20 elderly with disabilities and 20 families with babies.
The team traveled to Kherson for the anniversary of the flood to bring additional aid and visit some of the families that they had previously helped.
Pavel and Olena’s Team - Touch of Heart and Dawn of Hope
1,813 people received aid through the Mykolaiv office.
110 package distributed in Kvitneve.
3 tons of water delivered to Novopavlivske and Novohryhorivka.
Pomahaem Foundation
Delivered 180 large packages in 2 trips to Myrnohrad in the Donetsk Region, delivering.
Delivered 274 packages to Kostyantynivka.
Launched water delivery services to 15 Nikopol locations.
Marina’s Team – Give Good Ukraine
150 food and aid packages distributed in Zhovti Vody
Dina’s Team -- Vilni Liudy - Vilna Krayina
Distribted 360 packages of aid in Kremenchuk, Krasnokutsk, Poltava, Kanev, and Dnipro.
Bogdan’s Team - Vse robymo sami
42 food and hygiene packages were distributed in Zhytomyr.
Busy week at the Inclusive Day Camp "Joy" with 100 children participating: activities included cooking and riding classes, sports games, psychological relief games, and trips to the cinema and library.
Children received visit from representatives of the canine service of the National Police of Ukraine in the Zhytomyr region, who introduced them to service dogs.
Children also met representatives of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, who educated them about mine safety.
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